Popular Posts

Archives

A close-up wide angled but abridged look at projectors and other classroom technology, product reviews and releases, tradeshows, debates and conspiracy theories as well as humble observations on schools and screens.

Archives for the year 2009:

The Ecophones Drive looks very promising to me. Having sold my share of chocolate and cookie dough for pennies on the dollar, this program, which is said to pay upwards of $3 for every cell phone turned in, seems like one worth investigating. Neither students nor their hapless parents have to buy or sell anything. Ecophones provides a free marketing kit to help launch the program. There are also programs for MP3 players, used printer cartridges and digital cameras.more

I’ve been a part of the AV community for a large percentage of my professional life. I’ve been a parent for a portion of that time. My greatest pleasure in life is watching my kids learn, grow and become. Until recently I could never have imagined that these two spheres in which I operate would ever converge-but they have.more

I’ve officially been dubbed the grant guru at my son’s school and it’s not because I am a seasoned grant writer, but rather because I’m a rabid somewhat web savvy mom on a mission to keep the dream alive and the school open. I’m unearthing the treasures buried in government and corporate web pages out there and since all of our readers have an interest in incorporating classroom technology to reach 21st Century Classroom aspirations, I thought I’d share the wealth when it makes sense.more

I just saw a video of Arnie Duncan, the US Secretary of Education introducing the video contest he’s inviting young Americans (active students age 13 and up) to enter. The contest is entitled “I Am What I Learn” and it asks the question “why is education important to fulfilling your dreams?” It will be judged on creativity, the quality of content, and the ability to inspire and winners will receive $1000 each.more

I happened upon an article in the March 2009 edition of Educational Leadership magazine that addressed the issue of plagiarism in schools. Of course, I remember the plagiarism lecture in 6th grade as I prepared my report on Edwin Drake and the Seneca Oil Company. I recalled the way Sister Mary Amadeus, (all 5 feet of her) glowered at us from behind her specs warning us that plagiarizing was an affront to God. It was lying cheating and stealing all rolled up into one whopper of a sin that she’d be able to sniff out the minute the term paper was on her desk.more

Techlearning recently highlighted a study conducted in my home state. The University of Washington’s Center for information and Society has been looking into the work of 38 Boys and Girls Clubs across the country and how that work is contributing to the formation and growth of 21st Century skills among our youth. According the the BGCA website, their mission is to "promote and enhance the development of boys and girls by instilling a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and influence."more

Okay—I am officially creeped out because there really was something that went bump in the night last week and it was Amazon.com. I imagine a faceless being in a black cloak passing over the homes not in possession of a Kindle reader but descending on the bedrooms of their customers to delete copies of certain titles it had sold without publisher authorization. Think about it, an unseen hand removing property they had purchased simply because it could do so-remotely and without permission. And no, the fact that Amazon credited accounts is not the issue.more

I’ve been following President Barack Obama’s proposal for a multi-billion dollar investment in the nation's community colleges. What is reported as being a $12 billion effort, the aim is to help two-year institutions reach, teach and train more people for "the jobs of the future." The part that interests me the most about this proposal is that $500 million would go to online education. This is the only way to prepare Americans to compete in an economy where jobs requiring at least an AA degree are nearly double the number of those jobs that do not.more

This 3D thing in the classroom is going to be big. It took most of my attention at Infocomm and has been the subject of some of the most fascinating discussions I have had since with numerous educators who have had questions about various projectors’ 3D capabilities. It augments my personal research on attention issues in middle school boys and my secret hope that somewhere there is a classroom technology solution that will offer some small relief to anxiety ridden parents seeking help for their academically struggling children.more